Anti-hero
by motherafrica
Summary: Kevin couldn't be healed from being a monster in the labs of Los Soledad, so Ben does the unthinkable.
1. Chapter 1

**THOBETSA! Okay, so this is my first story in the history of forever, so please don't forget to review. Thanks**

Chapter 1: The road less travelled

Benjamin Tennyson was drenched from head to toe. There was nothing he could do to shelter himself from the rain pouring heavily down through his soaked clothes that had long since reached saturation as he couldn't remember where he had left his car. Somewhere on the highway perhaps. He kept his head down to stop raindrops coming into his eyes and carried on walking down the dark road towards Bellwood; finally relieved he was leaving Los Soledad. He could still hear the sirens of plumber emergency space ships over the loud shower of rain all the way down the street where he had just come from.  
The image of the shocked plumbers' faces when they arrived and realised what had happened was forever burned into his memory. They had looked back and forth from Ben to the monster laying on the ground and back to Ben again as he walked away in disbelief. He was not used to having people look at him in that disturbing way, the same way they would look at Vilgax or- he stopped short of saying Kevin's' name in his mind. Finally Ben closed his eyes and looked up as if the rain would wash the memories out of his head, and cleanse his feelings of guilt. The rain wasn't bothering him at all; he had stopped caring as the rain helped him wallow in his melancholy. "_It's going to take longer to get home like this…" _he thought sadly to himself. "_Or Maybe I just don't wanna go back home, maybe I shouldn't". "_You have to go back eventually, Ben" came a voice behind him. Ben turned around startled.

He was not surprised though to see Professor Paradoxs' very imposing presence standing next to something very small that wasn't entirely visible in the dark, but he deduced that it could only be Azmuth; and surely enough, the tiny Galvin creature motioned Paradox to bend down and lift him onto the palm of his hand."Come Ben, lets take shelter under that tree, we need to talk" said Paradox, pointing to a nearby tree. They walked away in silence, with their heads down and nothing but the noise of the rain pounding their ears until a large tree covered them from the rain.  
Ben figured Azmuth had come to take back the watch that he had found. He instructed the watch to come off of his wrist with voice command. He reached out his hand with the ultimatrix in his grip and motioned Azmuth to take it. A moment of silence pursued before Azmuth said finally "I remember why I created the ultimtrix; it was to insure peace and safekeeping, to keep people, creatures, aliens and all species across this vast universe safe from extinction. Then, you found it and used it to protect those who cannot protect themselves -he paused for a few seconds- what you did tonight was nothing short of bravery and unselfish leadership that I am so proud that you found the ultimatrix because you deserve it" he said valiantly.  
"Azmuth please, don't; don't say that, I already feel guilty enough as it is- I don't deserve it, please take it" said Ben looking away and avoiding their gaze."No, I cannot do that Ben it's not mine, its yours and besides you need it to save the universe". "What makes you think I will carry on saving the world" said Ben coldly,"Unless", he said thinking of a good idea, "Professor Paradox you can take me back in time to stop all of this from happening", right? he said hopefully. " I'm sorry Ben, I can't take you back in time to fix this, It's not a good idea, just ask your cousin" said Paradox sadly.  
"Ben you did what no one could have done, we don't blame you, you just need to explain to everyone so they can understand. " I can't go back not now" he said softly barely audible in the pouring rain. " I f you don't go back it'll make you look even more of a bad guy and everyone will forget you're a hero" said Paradox " C'mon, your last chance to get home quickly will be arriving soon, I suggest you'd better take it" he said. " Good luck Ben Tennyson" said Azmuth reassuringly. And with that they both vanished into thin air, just as a truck appeared and he decided to hitch a ride. The truck driver seemed nice enough and after the "Hey! You're Ben Ten aren't you? That he was all too used to, they were off.

Sitting in the truck drivers' passenger seat and occasionally nodding when he asked questions, Ben tried to gather his thoughts._ "What a long night, and however long it's been it's still not over. I can't believe it; things always work out for me in the end, what happened this time. No one understands the huge pressure I have being the protector of the universe, why can't I make this go away?"._He thought about what Paradox had said to him "_I can't take you back in time to fix this, it's not a good idea, just ask your cousin"._ He felt his throat tighten as he thought about his cousin."_I hope she'll forgive me…" _and with that he knew what he had to do, he had to make her understand that he was only trying to protect her and their friends. Suddenly he felt the effects of walking in the rain and how severely it had drained him of his energy. Slowly his head began to droop down the cold window, and his eyes failed to stay open further sinking him into darkness…

"One_ more and this'll be over"… he said in his echoed robotic transformation 'ultimate echo echo' as he pointed the sharp end of one of Diamondheads' large crystals towards Kevins' disfigured face. "Ben! No! You can't do this, since when have you been a murderer?!" yelled his cousin. "I have no choice!, get out-of-the-way, Gwen I have to protect everyone" he replied. " You need to protect Kevin too; please give me a chance to heal him" she begged. His robotic eyes looked into her desperate eyes… Next thing they were in the lab; he had decided to wait and give Cooper a chance…but it didn't work. "IT DIDN'T WORK, HE'S WAKING UP!" Cooper yelled. Kevin growled awake and reached for Ben's neck. Ben sprang into action and transformed into 'ultimate echo echo' again and fired his sound disks at Kevin with all his might… then all he could hear was his cousin screaming in the background. He was at such close range… Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that; his cousin running towards where Kevin was falling; Darkstar fleeing before him; Cooper's face frozen in horror, all he could do was hear screaming, a scream that reverberated through his mind…_

Ben woke up with a start. He didn't realise that he had fallen asleep in the took him a few moments to understand what had happened; he had just relived all that had happened that night in his dream. It was beginning to become a nightmare, and he couldn't trust his sleeping anymore. He knew that he had to settle this matter once and for all, but before he could think any further the truck driver announced "Here we go, Bellwood, say it's still raining out there; you need me to give you a lift to your neighbourhood or something?" "No thanks", said Ben as he stepped out of the truck; "There's something I need to take care of".

**Wow, I can't believe it's done just like that! please read and review this chapter! Honesty will be more appreciated than flattery, so you can lay it on me pretty thick if you want to. **


	2. Chapter 2: relations

Chapter 2: Relations

Ben continued walking in the rain with his head down and paused when he got to his house. The porch light was still on; his parents were probably asleep and had left the light on for when he returned. He tried not to think of how easy it would be for him to go straight into the house and drag his weary and freezing body into bed, but he couldn't let exhaustion overwhelm him as the particular matter that was bothering him couldn't wait for the morning- he needed to know how she felt; not only for the future but for his own wellbeing. He unwillingly turned his head back toward the dark,wet road, and continued walking with his head down, not knowing when he would get a chance to sleep. He had to go to her house.

(Gwen Tennyson)The rain continued to pour down heavily with its loud shower becoming background noise now. But even through all of this she could still hear someone approaching the front door. It could only be one person as her house was protected by her spells to keep enemies away. '_Doom doom,' _came the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs at a steady pace. Her heart was pounding; she wasn't ready for this confrontation yet. The footsteps gradually became louder and louder until they stopped outside her room and the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of numb fingers slowly turning the doorknob to reveal the very person she did not want to see standing in her doorway. She couldn't help but feel her anger rising dangerously as she felt his presence in her room; but she controlled it as this 'situation' was something they both needed to resolve. Nobody moved or said anything for the longest time; he just stood there petrified and she continued waiting for him to say something first, but she could feel his stare burning through the back of her head and it made her feel anxious.

From what Ben could see, Gwen Tennyson was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, her body turned in the direction of the window. She had her back turned to him and her face was down which made her fiery hair hide her face like a curtain although, her hair appeared shorter than usual it was now shoulder length and was was longer in some parts and shorter in others, and surely enough Ben noticed scissors in her wastepaper basket next to her bed and within the basket was a mountain of red hair. This was very uncharacteristic of Gwen he noted to himself. Her room was a complete mess; The floor was awash with books upon books strewn in every direction and some still placed lopsided on the bookcase. She must have been searching relentlessly for a spell to bring Kevin back. There was also crumpled tissue paper around her knees for all her unending tears when she probably wanted to give up hope after finding nothing. The sight of her anguish made him feel down cast. He didn't have the words to talk to her. "_I can do this!"_ he said to himself…

"_Gwen_" said Ben softly as his voice broke. Silence. More silence that felt like it lasted a lifetime. Silence that he felt consumed by, until eventually came a soft "what do you want Ben?" from the corner.

He controlled his voice and replied "What happened tonight, I... I'm so sorry for what I did, if only- "it's too late for that now" she interrupted him calmly.

"Then tell me what to do, tell me how to fix this" said Ben a hint of desperation in his voice. "Tell you how to _fix this" _said Gwen raising her head but still not turning to see him. He could hear her slowly losing her calm composure. "Well, that's ironic coming from you, since you've never had trouble figuring out what to do all on your own, no matter what anybody says or does, no matter who gets hurt as long as _thee _Ben Tennyson 'protector of the universe' gets what he wants, right?" said Gwen.

He had nothing to say. "I was only trying to protect you" said Ben eventually. " Oh go to hell!,you know damn well that I can protect myself" said Gwen, anger boiling up inside her and revealing itself in her voice. "I didn't need protecting, I trusted him not to hurt me, or us even when he was a monster".

"What else was I supposed to do", said Ben losing a little patience, "the 'Dominus Librium' power was not compatible with Cooper's machine, it wouldn't have cured him, why can't you put your feelings aside and accept that he was going to hurt us and that I did the right thing", said Ben remembering Paradox's words. "BY _KILLING_ KEVIN"? screamed Gwen as she got onto her feet and turned around for the first time to look straight at Ben.

Her words struck him like lightning; it was difficult to hear her say it so loudly out in the open. She looked insane as her heavy breathing and her intense and unblinking stare made him feel uneasy. They looked at each other straight in the eyes, he felt like he was looking in a mirror looking at her matching pair of emerald green eyes that were the same as his, and her bloodshot eyes easily revealed her exhaustion... just like his.

"You think it was an easy decision to make? You think it hasn't affected me just as much as it has affected you just because I wasn't in love with him? Things would have been far worse if Kevin had actually managed to hurt you, and he would have whether you believe it or not" said Ben.

Gwen just let out a tired sigh and said "You know what Ben, It's not even about what you _did_ do; It's about what you _didn't_ do; what you refused to do the whole day, what you don't ever do, and that is to _listen_. You wouldn't give me a chance to explain how we could have helped Kevin, how he has come out of this sort of thing before, you always have to do things your way and now its caught up to us;_ to me" _she said dramatically as her voice gave way to her emotions.

Ben froze. He had forgotten their earlier physical confrontation where Gwen had tried to stop him from finding Kevin. He had already made up his mind and wouldn't listen to didn't know how to respond. He just looked at her for a long while before saying "I'm sorry Gwen, I just didn't think that you wouldn't be able to handle yourself objectively with Kevin, that's why I had to do what I had to do" said Ben hoping she would understand and getting tired of their back and forth argument that was getting them nowhere.

"Would you have done the same thing if it were Julie? Would you even have allowed me to make a decision on how to deal with her since I would be the objective one in that case? HUH?" Gwen said wildly with her voice rising again.

"That's different and you know it said Ben now also raising his voice defensively; she had struck a nerve by throwing Julie into the mix."_How_ is that different?" said Gwen challengingly. "JULIE WAS NEVER A THUGGISH MONSTER!" Yelled Ben. He regretted saying that the moment it was said, he had said it in anger, it was in the moment he felt sweat sliding down his temple and he was at

Gwen gasped in horror and just stared at him; her eyes were locked on him like a predator looking at its prey, daring it with its eyes. Her eyes were glowing a dangerous pinkish purple colour that told Ben that he had gone too far. "_How could you say that" _whispered Gwen in disbelief, "you know what; just leave" she said pointing to the door with a shaking hand. He could see that she was using all of her might to refrain from losing it. "Wait, Gwen I'm sorry; I didn't mean it!" said Ben desperately. "GET OUT" she screamed in her two toned echoed annodite voice; and with that Ben was gone down the stairs and into the pouring rain of the night.


	3. Chapter 3: Los Soledad

Chapter 3: Los Soledad

"C'mon Ben, you need to sort out your problems proactively".

The very next day was sunny and warm but Ben was sitting with his head face down on the table covered by his arms in the 'Rust Bucket' with Grandpa Max who was trying to help him work out to do next. "I messed up big time Grandpa, it's over,Gwen hates me and she'll never trust me again" said Ben hopelessly.

"She doesn't hate you, she's just going through a tough time right now; you both are. What you need to do is to get a team together" said Grandpa Max. "I already have a team together" came Ben's muffled voice from under his arms that covered his face. "I mean a new team;Kevin was a great guy but he wasn't the only plumbers kid out there, you need to recruit more people some of the rookies I've been training would be honoured to join your team," said Grandpa Max. "But I can't do that, it just wouldn't be the same".

Just as Grandpa Max was about to answer back to Ben, there was a knock on the door of the R.B. Ben reluctantly stood up and opened the door to reveal Magister Ghalil looking very official with a stern look on his face.

"Ben Tennyson"? He asked. "Yeah" said Ben not trying to sound too surprised. "I need you to come with me to Los Soledad " Magister Ghalil said in his usual business-like way. "For what?" said Ben afraid now. "For questioning about the death of Mr Kevin Ethan Levin, you are the primary suspect after all, and you fled the crime scene" said Ghalil.

Ben was left reeling at this statement and couldn't think. He just stood there numb and all he could do was utter a faint,"suspect?" under his breath. He was beside himself as he looked at Grandpa Max who nodded encouragingly and beckoned him forward out of the door. "I'll come with you Ben, don't worry we'll sort this thing out" said Grandpa Max supportively. "_I'm not ready to go back to that place yet_" Ben thought to himself shaking his head as he exited the R.B. with his Grandpa and they followed the Magister outside and teleported with him, with Ben's mind going blank now.

Los Soledad was a flurry of activity with plumber and forensic aliens and creatures all over the place. They were all too busy with the crime scene and combing the entire area to notice when Ben, Grandpa Max and the Magister teleported in."Come this way please Ben" said Magister Ghalil as he motioned the way for them to go.

They followed him around the crime scene: there was a yellow hologrammed 'do not cross' line in front of the machine that Kevin was attached to, which had plumbers taking photos of it and analysing the area, there were plumbers dusting surfaces of the control panel of the machine to their left, plumbers sweeping, cleaning up surfaces, using advanced technology to gather accurate information as precisely as possible; it made Ben aware how many people were involved in this mess. It wasn't only about him and Gwen.

Ben couldn't help noticing that 'the body' wasn't there but he could help noticing the curious glances that finally came his way after they passed the plumber nearest them and Ghalil continued guiding them through the scene. He could feel their judgemental stares burning a hole into his head so he looked down. One particular plumber of Tetra Mann heritage couldn't stop staring at him directly trying to make it noticeable, which he couldn't take anymore.

"What?" said Ben rather rudely to him. He looked like he was shaking with anger. "Maybe I should be the one to say what we're all thinking seeing as though everyone else is too afraid; so, why hasn't Ben Tennyson justified his murder of Kevin Levin to the public, better yet why hasn't he been arrested?" He said looking around the room to which everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

"People should be informed before rumours start, but everyone is too concerned with protecting his reputation",and with that came a loud raucous of approval from the other plumbers. "You don't understand" said Ben angrily through gritted teeth as he stared around the room of hostile plumbers.

"My son has a hologram poster of you in his room, on our home planet Petropia, he looked up to you as a hero until he found out you're the same as the monsters you fight everyday" he said staring Ben in the eyes. Ben made a quick move to slap the ultimatrix but Grandpa Max stopped him. "Don't Ben, he's not worth the trouble" he said and took Ben by the arm and led him away from the chaos to a quiet corner where they could talk further with the Magister but this time with no interruptions.

Ben tried to calm himself down by breathing heavily and looking away from the plumbers. He couldn't believe what had just happened; all of them were against him when not so long ago they praised him for his work in saving the universe.

"Never mind them for now Ben, we need to sort this out first" said Grandpa Max pointing at the hologramed paper Ghalil held to automatically write what Ben would say. "Just start at the beginning when you're ready" said Ghalil. Ben tried to gather his thoughts but couldn't; he was still shaken up by what the plumbers had said to him.

But eventually he said "It was Kevin, we were trying to cure him after he turned into a monster, he was a combination of all my transformations; but the power overwhelmed him and made him lose control; he was trying to hurt people, to get revenge on people who have mistreated him over the years, so we brought him here to Los Soledad 'cause Darkstar said he could cure Kevin but later we found out nothing could be done and he was already waking up from his coma so… I did it, I had to… said Ben, his voice breaking, as reliving the event again and again was taking his toll on him.

"What did you do?" asked Ghalil. "I…,he hesitated,"I threw my sound disks directly at his face and it killed him, the pressure from the sound waves must have…" said Ben unable to continue. "Ruptured all the blood vessels in his head" said Ghalil casually. Ben looked away, this extremely gruesome detail made him feel sick, he also found it disturbing how the Magister could say something so horrible in such an easygoing way;he didn't know whether to run away or start crying.

"Are you okay Ben? Said Grandpa Max noticing Ben's face turning a shade of green and his body shaking. "I'm fine" Ben lied. "Just carry on". "Okay; so we've scheduled a hearing for you with judge Donstan tomorrow to-"Wait! I've got to go to a hearing? Why?" Said Ben cutting the magister off. "Listen, I know your story is complicated but you still have to be processed just like everyone". "But why judge Donstan? Why so far away?" asked Ben. "He's the best bet that you won't get arrested and put on trial" said Grandpa, Ben stared at him in disbelief. "Arrested? It was self-defence!... But who would charge me anyway?" Asked Ben. Magister Ghalil and Grandpa Max looked at each other for a while before Ghalil said "Kevin's mother".

Silence... More silence... Ben was numb, he had forgotten about how Kevin's mom probably feels at this time, she probably felt tortured by losing her husband and now her son;she was alone now with no family...all by is doing... "What has she said about all of this" whispered Ben. Magister Ghalil looked down at his hologram notes, "Well from what we've been told so far she has thought of a funeral arrangement. She requested his body be cremated because she knows Kevin would not want to be remembered in the current monster state that he hated so much", he paused, "but, she is still in trauma counselling and will continue the arrangements when she is ready to come out". He looked at Ben who had a pained expression on his face.

"Don't blame yourself Ben", Ghalil said trying his best to sound sincere. "I think that will be enough for today" said Grandpa Max realising that Ben was near collapse. "C'mon let me take you out of here Ben, thanks Magister, we'll keep in touch". He took Ben by the arm and guided him through the crowd of plumbers. "I need to go home Grandpa, I need to talk to my mother" he said in a state of shock as he tugged on Grandpa Max's arm like a little child. "Okay Ben but first I need you to be checked out by a doctor,you don't look so good, and then there's the business about the hearing we need to take care of" he said at Ben's uncharacteristic behaviour as he continued to guide Ben through the busy crowd.

Ben hardly noticed the stares and outraged glares that were shot his way as they left; his mind was far away... Ghalil, Judge Donston, a prison cell, Gwens' glowing eyes, Gwens' screams, Kevins' mangled body lying on the same floor that he just happened to be walking on, Kevins' mom:inconsolable and despondent, his mother covering her tear-stained face with her hands; unable to believe her only son murdered his best friend, his father cradling her with his firm hands and staring at Ben with hatred in his eyes, shaking his head in dissaproval... all these images flashed through his mind. He was dizzy, the world appeared to be spinning and swimming in front of him, he couldn't feel his body steadily anymore, it was swaying dangerously from left to right, all he could do is hear a faint voice in the distance; someone was trying to tell him something, he tried to focus his eyes but they were unresponsive.

He could feel his legs failing him and a swell of liquid being pulled up from his insides. He felt his stomach tighten as his head jerked forward involuntarily and an ocean of angry hot vomit erupted out of his mouth, spewing out like a burst waterpipe and spilling itself into a pool onto the floor. Just before his eyes could fail him, he saw a man trying to catch him as he was falling, and muffled voices all around him as darkness engulfed him, he was afraid of the pain of falling down but his head and body never seemed to find the floor.


	4. Chapter 4: Endings and Beginnings

**I know, I know the last chapter ending was DISGUSTING! but that was the point, I wanted people to feel like they were there witnessing the grossness of it all! It's just too funny! Anyway here's the last chapter of my very first fanfic.**

***I do not own any Ben 10, this is just fanfic.**

Chapter 4: Endings and Beginnings 

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Ben's mother Sandra Tennyson sitting on the edge of Ben's bed that evening, with a worried look on her kind face as she stroked his brown hair. Ben was lying on his bed with his arms stretched out like a crucifix, staring at the ceiling.

The past few days had been a harrowing experience for him; landing up in the hospital after fainting and vomiting his guts out, then attending a hearing on the other side of the universe where judge Donstan's courtroom was located. The situation was explained to the judge where he told Ben that no one had come forth to charge him and that Ben's killing of Kevin was justified as it was recognised under the self-defence clause of the interstellar laws that governed 50 Billion planets under the Milky way treaty, of which Earth was a member. All of the jargon mentioned came and went out of his ears; he was just relieved that he wouldn't be spending the rest of his life behind bars. When he came back home it was nothing but despondency that took over his said nothing, ate nothing and only left his room that day to use the bathroom. He continued staring at the ceiling for a while until he looked at his mother with a blank stare in his eyes.

"Mom, what would you do if you found out that I did something terrible"? he remembered how he had chickened out of telling his parents the truth. His mom just looked at him with a confused expression, still looking worried. "What do you mean, where is this coming from?", "Just please answer the question; would you still care about me if I did something… unforgivable?, "Ben, there's nothing in the world that you can do to make me hate you or not forgive you, I completely trust your judgement, and I know you're a good person".

"Really?" asked Ben touched. "Yes" she said rubbing his hands warmly, "But what would you do if something happened to me and I... passed on?" after seeing the scared look on his mother's face he quickly added "don't worry mom, I'm not suicidal, I just wanna know". She stared down hard at the floor "Well that's a mother's worst nightmare, I can't even imagine the pain, nor do I think I would ever overcome it… I guess I would need your father's help to get me through it". She said. "Why? Is there something wrong?" He just looked down and said randomly "I'm going for a drive" and jumped off his bed. 'What? Wait, Ben!" yelled his mom but he had already dashed out of the room leaving his mom staring in his wake.

He had to get out of there, he just had to; it was too much for him to take, listening to what his mother said. He had reached breaking point and he knew it. He sped through the desert in his sports car until he felt he was far enough from everything, the city lights, the people, the pain, and any civilisation. He stepped on the brakes hard and turned off all the lights and sat in the darkness...

The moon provided natural light as Ben continued sitting, staring into space and breathing hard as his mother's words haunted him…"I can't even imagine the pain…I would need your father's help to overcome it…" He thought of Kevin's mom again and all the pain he had caused her. She didn't have a husband to help her. He still had a family who he could go to when he wanted to, he had left her with nothing. Kevin had been the only source of income since his father died, how was she going to manage being unemployed, without any family support?

Suddenly Ben just burst open the floodgates and everything came out. He cried... and cried...and cried and screamed... and shouted like he had never done before. All the pent-up sadness,trauma,hurt, pain and anger all came out. He punched his fists on the steering wheel, the window and the ceiling. He ran outside into the darkness and something hit his foot: a twisted piece of steel piping. He picked up the pipe smashed the windscreen of his car with all his might, then came the passenger door, again...and again...and again. He found unopened bottles of alcohol left by some local teenagers on the floor behind a big rock;he popped them open and furiously started guzzling them down with the fiery liquid fuelling his anger and pain even more. He broke the alcohol bottles on a giant boulder nearby.

After he was all cried out and had taken all the anger out, he pushed all the shards of glass off of his seat, cutting himself in the process and sat back down. He breathed slowly; taking in deep gasps and clutching on the steering wheel. He just sat there for a while with his thoughts pounding his head. "I'm never leaving here; they'll forget about me after a while" he said to himself out loud. Just then something bright lit up his side view mirror and he turned to it to get a better look. Something big and bright was coming his way.

A fireball! Was approaching him at lightning speed. He sidled to the passenger seat; opened the door and jumped out just in time as the fireball blasted his flaming car to scrap metal. A very tall figure was approaching the blast, from what Ben could see lying on the ground. "Ben Tennyson! I know you've survived worse than that, reveal yourself."

Vilgax The Conqueror appeared out of the shadows with his very imposing presence. Ben cursed under his breath;he was in no physical or emotional shape for a confrontation with Vilgax. He remained where he was; crouched down by his car in pieces. "Why are you hiding Ben Tennyson? you've never been afraid to fight me before" taunted Vilgax. He slowly walked away from the car in the dark and hid behind the big boulder so Vilgax wouldn't see him and tried running for it.

A couple metres after, a beam of light smacked in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks:Vilgax had found him. He tried his best to run away again but Vilgax caught him by the throat and lifted him up. "I never thought I'd see the day when Ben Tennyson runs away from me". "I'm not running away" said Ben through tight breaths; Vilgax had a firm grip on his throat. "So why didn't you come out and fight me?"... A sinister smile creeped its way onto Vilgax's face, a knowing smile of understanding and intimidation.

Ben could tell that Vilgax knew about what he did, and his fears were realised when Vilgax said "It's true isn't it? The great hero has turned over to the dark side; I didn't think you had it in you Tennyson, to murder a member of your own team, a friend no less!. "Shut up, I didn't murder him, I'm not a monster like you! "But Kevin Levin is dead and it was by your doing, was it not?" Ben just kept quiet and looked his arch-enemy in his cold eyes. "I thought as much, that's why I 'Vilgax,Conquerer of Ten Worlds' come to you Ben Tennyson with a proposal that you might find interesting". As much as Ben wanted to refuse right then and there, he couldn't help but ask breathlessly "Put me down and I'll consider your proposal".

Much to Ben's surprise and relief, Vilgax slowly lowered him onto the floor and loosened his chokehold which left Ben gasping for breath. "Since you're no longer a hero, I propose an alliance: you, me, the power of the ultimatrix, we will have all the power we can squeeze out of this universe at our disposal". "What makes you think that I'm no longer a hero? I can still protect the universe from the likes of you" said Ben. "Don't be naïve Ben Tennyson, when your people find out what you did, they will hate you forever, they will cast you aside like yesterday's garbage, they will never see you as their hero again! so the only choice you have is to join me". "No" Ben said quite simply without saying anything else.

"No?, just no?" is that all you have to say for yourself". asked Vilgax surprised. "Yeah, pretty much" said Ben sounding arrogance. "Well then, you leave me with no choice, since I no longer have any use for you, I guess I'll have to kill you now". Ben tried to twist the ultimatrix and transform quickly, but Vilgax was too fast for him and he felt the impact of his strong-arm punch him in the face that sent him flying through the dark desert and landed at the base of a cliff at full speed. He couldn't feel his legs, and it felt as if his back might be broken. But there was no time to feel to his injuries, as Vilgax appeared again and grabbed him by the neck again, lifted him up and looked at Ben with satisfaction in his eyes, "This is it for you Ben Tennyson, I'll see you in another life". Ben was helpless; he was once again in Vilgax's chokehold and was unable to defend himself. "_Well I guess It's my turn, Kevin, I'll see you sooner than you think" _said Ben giving up. Vilgax swung his arm to deliver the final blow and Ben braced himself for impact, but Vilgax's arm hit something solid instead: a pinkish purple dome that was surrounding him;protecting him.

Both Ben and Vilgax looked up in surprise; Gwen Tennyson was standing on one of the stairs she made with her manna and focused the manna in her arms to the shield to keep it intact. Ben looked at her in disbelief, he could only mutter a faint "Gwen! what are you doing here?". "Saving your life,what does it look like? She just stared at him and... smiled. The moment she did that, Ben's eyes welled up in tears and he smiled up at her as well. The tender moment was ruined by Vilgax's snarl of anger and firing lasers from his eyes at Gwen. She ran around him still on her stairs in the air, forcing Vilgax to let go of Ben so he could turn around and continue firing at her. Ben fell to the ground and got up shakily just in time to hear Gwen yell at him"Ben, change into something, quickly!".

He slapped the ultimatrix and changed into a big dinosaur, then the dinosaur slapped its chest and exclaimed:"ULTIMATE HUMONGOUSAUR". He charged straight at Vilgax who was still in pursuit of Gwen. Ultimate humongousaur grabbed Vilgax around his waist as Vilgax exclaimed in anger and squeezed tightly before spinning him around and flinging him into the air. He then gave chase of him and pulled Vilgax down from his feet while he was still in the air and smashed him into the ground. He continuously punched him with his left and right arm with all his might until Vilgax caught on of his arms and pushed him off. He tried to swing at Ben again with his free arm but Ben grabbed this arm and twisted it up and around Vilgax's back. Vilgax howled in pain. "Maybe I should tear your arm off, or just kill you like you were going to kill me" said Humungasaur threateningly. "Do it, finally prove it to everyone that you are the murderer that they say you are". He relaxed his snarling face and thought of how he killed Kevin. He looked at Gwen who was hovering above him on her manna. She merely looked at him and showed no expression on her she wanted him to figure things out on his own without any of her influence. He looked around for the spaceship that Vilgax came with and found it far in the distance near his obliterated car. He pulled Vilgax all the way to his ship still holding him in the same position and threw him into the ship. "I'm not a murderer Vilgax, remember that" he said as he transformed back into Ben. "And if you ever come back here again, I might just have to reconsider that". "You know I'll be back Tennyson, and I hope that for your sake that you are a murderer" said Vilgax as he blasted his ship away...

Ben stood there watching the spaceship fly away, but what he was really focusing on was the fact that his cousin was standing behind him. He turned around and looked at her, but before he could do anything his injuries caused him to fall down on the ground with Gwen trying to catch him in the process. "No Ben don't get up, you're too injured" she said soothingly and sat down next to him. They both sat in silence and eventually Ben said "How did you find me?". "My manna recognised your aura and I could feel that you were in danger, I guess were still connected in some way, we are cousins after all right?" she said smiling at that last statement. Ben smiled; looking directly at her now, he said "But I thought you hated me for what I did, why did you-" "I don't hate you Ben, but I _did..._ until I felt your anger and pain through my manna, then I saw how broken you were earlier tonight when you trashed your car, It made me realise that we were both in the same place and that we need to accept what has happened; hating you won't bring Ke- _him_, back" she said as a tear fell down her cheek. Ben turned his body around to her direction and hugged her; he embraced her and clenched her tightly in his arms and they sat there again in silence rocking each other for the longest time.

"Ben?" said Gwen suddenly, "yeah?", "Could you promise me one thing?", "And what's that?" "Promise me that you'll never do what you did here earlier in this desert, I never want to see you like that again" she said staring into his eyes. "I promise, but I didn't know you were watching me". "I'm always watching you, Ben" she said. "Well _that's_ a little disturbing" he said. Gwen chuckled and helped him up "Come on Ben, let's get out of here, there's somewhere we need to go". "And where's that?", "Trauma counselling with Mrs Levin, she requested it". Ben's heart felt heavy with emotion and the happiness he hadn't felt in ages.

As they continued walking with Ben balancing on Gwen for support he said to her truthfully: " You know, I don't know how we'll ever get our 'best friends' relationship back again to where it was, I feel like we need to get to know each other all over again". She contemplated this before turning to him saying: "Well then, I guess we'll just have to start at the beginning".

***The End, Die Einde, Phelile, Feditse! Thanks for reading, tell me what you think, but please don't ask me questions from the original Ben 10 series, I've only watched Alien force and Ultimate Alien. Untill next time... **


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